How many times in baseball’s past have we had players lying to public? Perhaps the most well known has been Pete Rose. He insisted for years that the allegations against him were false. Yet, just a few years ago, conveniently right when his book was being released, he came clean and told the world that he indeed did bet on baseball. Should we just forgive him for lying because he went on national television and cried about it? This type of lying is nothing new to sport and to baseball, but the lying that we have seen lately goes above and beyond this.
First we had Barry Bonds who claimed to have never taken HGH, performance enhancing drugs, or any other steroids. In fact, he went as far as to state his denial in sworn testimony to Congress. Yet, there is enough evidence on the contrary that a perjury case is being brought against him.
This year is nothing new. We still have players lying and then correcting their statements because they “misremembered.” Most notably this year, we have dealt with the lies of Andy Pettitte. When Pettitte was named in the Mitchell report as a user of HGH, he came out and said he did it once, maybe two times. How dumb does he think the public is? There is no benefit to using it one or two times, nobody would do such a thing. He was questioned and denied using it more than this. Yet, when he was sworn in under oath before Congress, he admitted to using on other occasions. He went as far as to say that his father had administered it to him.
Lastly, we have perhaps the biggest case of all, that of Roger Clemens. However, Roger’s lying is not only tarnishing his reputation but that of his family as well. It is now public knowledge that Clemens’ wife, Debbie, used HGH prior to her Sports Illustrated swimsuit photo shoot. Take a look at these pictures, was it worth it Debbie? I hope so.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Roger Clemens fan, but it is overtly obvious that he is lying. In statement after statement, both under oath and not under oath, Clemens has vehemently denied using steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. He has also denied attending a party at Jose Canseco’s house which has become more important to Congress than dealing with the war in Iraq. Despite the fact that Clemens told Congress he did not attend this party, there are supposed pictures of him at this party. This prompted his attorney to come out and say that it’s possible “he may have stopped by for a few minutes.” The problem? Clemens simply lacks credibility according to Elliotte Friedman
Thanks to Roger, the word “misremember” has become part of our daily conversations. Clemens has said that his former best friend, Pettitte, has “misremembered” many of their conversations. Perhaps it is Clemens that is doing the “misremembering.” Robert Littal writes that he “didn’t misremember that Roger Clemens is a liar.”
Where does lying get these players? It just digs their graves deeper and tarnishes their reputations even more. In a game built on records and statistical performance, performance enhancing drugs and lying has no place. These lies may put Bonds in jail for perjury and if Congress has their way, it will do the same to Clemens. How dumb do these players think we are? Are we just to believe they used HGH once, or to believe their lies that they never used them at all, when all the evidence is on the contrary?
They would be much more respected both in the sport and non-sport world if they would just come out and tell the truth the first time around. They are not only tarnishing their own reputations but that of the game that claim to love. Freddie P. sums it up best when he says, “Roger Clemens is just another delusional athlete who thinks he can buy his way out of anything, and what p*sses me off even further are people who actually believe the guy.”
